The rise and fall of an Indian poster boy

Former head of global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and former director at Goldman Sachs Group, Rajat Gupta (R) leaves federal court with his lawyer Gary Naftalis in New York. AFP/Timothy A. Clary

Scholar, executive, leader, philanthropist, educationist — Rajat Gupta took 40 years to build a reputation. It took just one year after that for his downfall.

HOW HIS COOKIE CRUMBLED

July 29, 2008: Gupta and Raj Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon Group, discuss a Goldman Sachs board meeting in which the possibility of the bank buying AIG or Wachovia during the financial crisis is discussed.

Sept 23, 2008: Gupta takes part in a Goldman board conference call, concerning investment legend Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway's $5-billion preferred stock investment in the firm. Sixteen seconds later, Gupta's assistant places a call to Rajaratnam -- ultimately leading to US government charge that Galleon generated a profit of $840,000 from the information.

Sept 24, 2008: On a wiretapped phone call, Rajaratnam tells Ian Horowitz, a Galleon trader, about a call he got about a Goldman board meeting shortly before the markets closed on Sept 23.

Oct 23, 2008: Gupta participates in Goldman Sachs board conference call, concerning Goldman being on track to report its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1999. Approximately 23 seconds after the call, he calls Rajaratnam. The government alleged that Rajaratnam avoided a loss of several million dollars on the back of this information.

Jan 29, 2009: Gupta takes part in a P&G audit committee call discussing the company's earnings to be released the next day. Gupta calls Rajaratnam a few hours later. Based on the information, the government alleges that Rajaratnam directed some Galleon funds to sell short approximately 180,000 shares of P&G common stock.

Oct 26, 2011: Gupta surrenders to the FBI on criminal charges of leaking inside information to Rajaratnam -- an unfair trade practice that short-changes public shareholders.

June 15, 2012: Gupta convicted on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy for passing along confidential boardroom information about both companies to the hedge fund that earned millions of dollars trading on his tips. He is acquitted of two counts of securities fraud.